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This blog will mainly focus on crime in and around Southwest Missouri....Winner Of Springfield Blogger's Association: ROOKIE BLOG OF THE YEAR 2009--WINNER News or Current Events Blog Of The Year 2010
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The murder trial that was supposed to begin tomorrow for a mother accused of allegedly starving her 6 year-old daughter to death in 2005 has been postponed because the attorney for the woman doesn't have a license to practice in the state of Missouri.

Karen Davenport (a.) 32 was originally charged with involuntary manslaughter in 2005 starvation death of her daughter, Hannah (b.), by former prosecutor, Steve Greeding.

However, after reviewing the case in 2007, Janice Durbin, Greeding's successor, dropped the manslaughter charge and replaced it with second degree murder; Durbin also amended the charge to include failing to provide adequate medical treatment for the girl as an alternative charge in the case against Karen Davenport.

Hannah was born with a birth defect that made it difficult for her to digest food. Investigators say that doctors ordered a special diet for the little girl that was ignored, and that was a contributing factor in her death.

The delay in Davenport's case also pushes back the trial date for her mother, Linda Walsham, who faces the same charges.

There is no telling how long this latest bump in the four year-old case could delay proceedings...but Durbin believes that Davenport will apply for a public defender today. The reality of one being appointed though is not very good considering the large bond that Davenport posted.

Hannah was only three and a half feet tall, and weighed less than thirty pounds when she died.....the result of malnutrition and dehydration according to forensic pathologist, Dr. Keith Norton.